The light bright blue color of robin’s eggs has just a hint of green mixed in! It’s hard to believe that this wonderful hue comes from nature! What makes the eggs of robins such a vibrant color?
Robin eggs get their color as they pass through a tube called an oviduct inside of the mother bird’s body. Special organs called pigment glands deposit the color onto the eggs, giving them their eye-catching shade of blue. But why blue?! After all, some eggs are camouflaged in earthy colors to blend in with their surroundings, such as the brown or gray eggs of birds with nests on the ground.
It makes sense that an egg’s color may be for its own protection! Even eggs that are bright white are protected in a way, as they are often found in nests that are hidden from predators in locations such as holes. But what about those blue eggs?! One bird biologist has suggested that a blue egg may be nicely camouflaged at the bottom of a dark nest, especially if the nest were partly covered with green leaves.
We may never know exactly why robin’s eggs are blue, but it’s possible that the blue coloring may be especially helpful in the area of egg identification. After all, some birds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. It’s important for mother birds to be able to tell their eggs apart from the eggs of these trespassing bird mommies! Perhaps the striking blue color of robin’s eggs helps the mother robins to know their own eggs without a doubt!